VIDEO: It’s October 21, 2015, Welcome Back to the Future

Put on your self-tying sneakers and get on your hoverboards, because the future is here. Today, October 21, 2015, is the day Marty McFly time traveled to in Back to the Future II, and Toyota is using the opportunity to fully reveal the video they teased last week.

Here’s the video, which is really all about the Mirai. Well, there is a Tacoma dressed as Marty’s old Hilux, which is cool. Sadly it’s not an actual model for sale, which is not. Instead, it’s a way for a random engineer to run around to BTTF filming locations with Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox and quoting from the movies.

So there you have it. If you’re still jonesing for a Hilux, though, here’s Jack Russo’s amazingly accurate replica of Marty’s 1985 Toyota SR5 4WD from Toyotafest. Where we’re going, we’ll still need roads. See bonus images of the Tacoma below.

Once again Toyota has teased something potentially really cool and failed to deliver. Now, I do believe they are ahead of the pack in alternative fueled cars like the Mirai and Prius but they have a recent history of not meeting the consumers expectations. They make some great sedans but with the exception of the FT86 (failing sales numbers by the way and facelift coming next year) nothing sporting unless you can afford a Lexus…

They had to realize the potential in that truck at some point, seemingly making it a focal point to of the teaser video alongside the Mirai. Altogether I felt the whole reveal was a waste considering the car is already common knowledge and the ad is a bit late since the damn thing is already in production…

Opportunity missed. With these actors and movie, it seems like it wouldn’t take much effort to make something memorable. If my calculations are correct, I will probably forget this @#$% in about 88 seconds. Maybe they are putting their time and energy into their “Southern strategy.”

I’ll get this out of the way first: I actually like the Mirai. Better looking than a Prius, new tech/alternative fuel/etc. HUGE loss leader for the foreseeable future, until the infrastructure is expanded. I read somewhere that each one is expected to LOSE $50K for the company, but they have the guts to do it. (May have been like, Green Car Reports, or somesuch…)

Okay; fine. Here’s what I don’t get:

The Tacoma is sold all the way around the planet, whether as Tacoma or Hilux, so the costs are spread out, and it MAKES money, BUT they aren’t putting out what would be a simple “Special Edition” version – mostly aftermarket parts, I’m assuming. This would be something that would sell at least well in the U.S., and possibly in most of the English-speaking world, based SOLELY on the still-popular movie. Just seems dumb to me…

Interesting article. So is carbon-fouling may be be a problem for those of the last 10 years? Something to keep in mind when out there buying used, if you tend to drive in the city. Maybe just a monthly FI cleaner in the tank will prevent issues.

My wondering about the long-term reliability though, is in the extra linkages in the “graphic” in, I think it was a “How Stuff Works” article.

Just makes me appreciate the simplicity of older vehicles that much more.